Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky extended his “best wishes” to American former President Donald Trump and his family on Monday in response to what law enforcement authorities described on Sunday as a second failed assassination attempt on the 2024 presidential frontrunner in as many months.
Trump was reportedly playing golf on Sunday at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, when shots rang out. The FBI confirmed that it was investigating “what appears to be an attempted assassination of former President Trump,” though it remains unclear at press time whether the shots fired came from law enforcement or the shooter himself. Authorities have identified 58-year-old Ryan Routh as the man implicated in the assassination plot. Media reports have since unearthed several social media profiles apparently run by Routh and other evidence featuring a large volume of content condemning Trump and supporting his election rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.
The incident is the second apparent failed assassination of the former president. In July, a man later identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks was killed after opening fire on Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, grazing Trump in the ear and killing one rallygoer, firefighter Corey Comperatore. Crooks was killed in the shootout; the status of the man believed to be Routh remains unclear at press time.
Zelensky, who has claimed to survive “five or six” assassination attempts himself, responded on Monday to the news of the failed homicide.
“I am glad to hear that [Trump] is safe and unharmed. My best wishes to him and his family,” the Ukrainian president wrote on social media. “It’s good that the suspect in the assassination attempt was apprehended quickly.”
“This is our principle: the rule of law is paramount and political violence has no place anywhere in the world. We sincerely hope that everyone remains safe,” he added:
The second known attempt on Trump’s life has caused widespread outrage in the United States – and condemnation of alarmist rhetoric from Democrats and leftists generally accusing Trump of being a threat to the fabric of American democracy.
“Sadly, the finger pointing at Trump has led to — you know — you know, the line about the blood — bloodbath, talking about the auto industry being used as if he’s going to create a bloody coup if he loses,” former FBI counterterrorism agent Tim Clemente told CNN on Sunday. “That — that kind of — that kind of verbiage is something you use in a third world country when you’re talking about a dictator, and that sadly has led to, I think, these attempts on Trump’s life and I don’t think it’s going to end.”
In March, Trump warned that Democrat economic policies could result in a “bloodbath” for the American auto industry, a commonly used term meaning a major economic catastrophe. Harris has repeatedly falsely claimed that Trump was threatening the mass physical death of many people, rather than an economic disaster, in those comments.
The incident on Sunday has also prompted widespread calls for better security for presidential candidates, given the proximity the suspect in the attempted assassination achieved to his target. Some reports, including public comments by Donald Trump Jr., indicate that the suspect may have managed to smuggle an AK-47 onto the golf course. Unconfirmed reports suggested that the suspect also smuggled a camera onto the premises, indicating that he was planning to film an attack.
“All major presidential candidates ought to receive the highest level of presidential [protection]. Anything less than maximum protection is a self-inflicted wound that puts our Nation’s stability at grave risk,” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) said on Sunday.
“Given the escalating threats, I’m calling on President Biden to issue President Trump the same security levels afforded to a sitting President to ensure his safety,” Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-NY) demanded.
Ukrainian President Zelensky came into office in 2019, during the administration of President Trump, as an outsider candidate whose prior experience was in the entertainment industry as a well-known sitcom actor. He enjoyed friendly ties to Trump during their overlapping time in office, resulting in a controversy in which Democrats attempted to impeach Trump over a phone call with Zelensky. Zelensky defended the legitimacy of the conversation on multiple occasions, ultimately helping stop the impeachment attempt.
In July, after the attempt on Trump’s life in Pennsylvania, Zelensky issued a similar statement condemning the incident and wishing Trump a swift recovery from his gunshot wound.
“Such violence has no justification and no place anywhere in the world,” Zelensky said. “I wish America emerges stronger from this,” Zelensky said at the time.
The Ukrainian president has also said that he “will work” with Trump if the former president returns to office, responding to concerns that Trump would limit the prodigious financing of the Ukrainian military under current President Joe Biden.
Trump has criticized the spending while notably omitting condemnation of Zelenzky.
“I’ll stop Joe Biden’s inflation-causing spending spree, and oppose an immediate moratorium on all of Crooked Joe’s hundreds of billions of dollars in waste,” Trump said in July, calling Zelensky “maybe the greatest salesman of any politician that’s ever lived. Every time he comes to our country, he walks away with $60 billion.”
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“And, I like him. You know on the impeachment hoax number one, he was very good. He said, ‘No, the President didn’t threaten me at all,’” Trump continued at the time. “He could have been a Grand Stander and said, ‘I was threatened.’”
Zelensky has maintained an open invitation for Trump to visit Kyiv since at least February.